The photograph with this column was taken from the balcony of a supermarket in the Baltimore area during a tour of several stores at the Food Marketing Institute Energy and Store Development Conference. Notice the massive amount of floor space and products on display.
The ever-changing world of refrigeration equipment regulations is getting an update. A recently published white paper addresses a variety of topics, including new Energy Star standards, new legislation affecting refrigerated display cases, and required certifications for commercial foodservice equipment.
From a global perspective, there is a lot of interest in the wider use of R-744 (CO2), especially in supermarket refrigeration. Recently, a number of international studies and seminars have reported some of the latest developments regarding R-744.
A study from Carel has tried to get a precise handle on supermarket refrigeration energy savings at various levels of upgrades and at the same time has assigned some new terminology to the steps — ‘traditional,’ ‘evolved,’ and ‘excellent.’
Have you worked with R-407A in refrigeration jobs? The mechanical design company Henderson Engineers Inc. (HEI) of Kansas City has in such a project where it was given the task by a major retailer to improve the carbon footprint of a supermarket refrigeration system.
The supermarket chain Hy-Vee Inc.’s 64,000-square-foot store in Fairfield, Iowa, opened on April 12 as the company’s second Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified store. It is one of the few supermarkets in the country that has achieved U.S. EPA GreenChill Gold-Level certification.
As new stores are built and older systems in existing stores replaced, an approach called secondary refrigeration is gaining wider acceptance and is steadily increasing in numbers.